Lex Korten (b. 1994) was born and raised in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, exposed to a wide breadth of music both in the home and around the city. Many figures played a role in fostering the love Korten found at an early age for Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Fats Waller, culminating towards his collegiate studies under master pianists Geri Allen and Benny Green in Michigan. Relocating nearby greater Detroit stoked a rejuvenation of his musical curiosity with the benefits of thankless communal mentorship (less easily available in NYC). Marcus Belgrave, Robert Hurst, Rodney Whitaker and others made routine contributions.

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          Back in New York since 2016, Lex Korten has sought a pathway forward that shuts out none of his influences and seeks new ones from generations above and below. Owing in part to his time with Geri Allen and eventual immersion in more experimental music, Korten’s efforts have steered towards seeking his own unity within the many worlds his ears and hands have taken him to as a student of sound. One monumental step in this journey came in 2018 with his appointment to the piano chair of Tyshawn Sorey's sextet, a juggernaut vehicle for powerful, complex form-building and free improvisation. By age 25 and the onset of the pandemic, Korten’s recognition within New York had worked up sizable momentum, earning early calls from esteemed figures Caroline Davis, Jaleel Shaw, Clarence Penn, Dayna Stephens, Fay Victor, Joel Ross, Massimo Biolcati and Ari Hoenig. Korten joined the faculty at The New School as a private instructor around this time, and won the UNISA International Piano Competition held in South Africa in February of 2020.

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          Lex Korten’s identity as an expressive, versatile pianist has been able to grow thanks to a vibrant breadth of sideman experience. First brought on the road as a member of the Melissa Aldana Quartet from 2023-24, Korten attracted calls from a lineup of contemporary Jazz greats Mike Moreno, Jonathan Kreisberg, Lage Lund, Joe Farnsworth, John Ellis, Tivon Pennicott, Joe Martin and Or Bareket along with other creative powerhouses including Zoh Amba, DoYeon Kim, Nick Dunston, Joel Harrison, Chris Turner and Ndabo Zulu. Korten has been a regular member bands led by of a who’s who of emerging leaders in creative music, touring five continents and recording dozens of albums with the likes of Simon Moullier, Milena Casado, Morgan Guerin, Alex Hitchcock, Nicola Caminiti, Tyrone Allen, Ben Tiberio, Claire Dickson, Alden Hellmuth, Dave Adewumi, Sasha Berliner, Alfredo Colón, Linda Sikhakhane, Linda Briceño, Ben Solomon, Kazemde George, Juan Diego Villalobos and more.

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          Now emerging as a bandleader in his own right, Lex Korten recently marked his first European bandleading dates in London, later conducting a two week residency with his quintet in Guimarães, Portugal. In 2026 Korten was the subject of an in-depth radio profile broadcast nationwide in Germany. His debut album Canopy (2025, Sounderscore) was met with rave reviews from major Jazz magazines, leading to his recent appearance at #8 on the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for rising star pianists. JazzTimes profiled him as a ‘present day master’ with other online outlets like Pitchfork, Popmatters, and The Wire Magazine also among those lending praise.